NC-AGILE-SCIENCES

Agile Sciences in Raleigh, NC has developed a potentially powerful, effective and affordable means to stem the tide of antibiotic resistance. Results show that their proprietary family of 2 Amino-Imadazole (2-AI) compounds, act directly on the response regulator protein of so-called bacterial two-component systems. This effectively renders the bacteria incapable of mounting any kind of defense against antibiotics or other threats. “Agile’s 2-AI compounds have been shown to affect all the bacterial resistance mechanisms reducing the amount of antibiotic needed to kill them, eliminating future resistance and reviving antibiotics that have previously been rendered useless due to resistance issues”, said Malcolm Thomas COO of Agile Sciences.

The dramatic increase in antibiotic resistance in recent years has alarmed healthcare experts. A recently released Wellcome Trust report commissioned by the British government estimates that deaths due to antibiotic resistance will rise from the current level of 700,000 to 10 million deaths a year. The CDC last week announced the first case of a US superbug. An E-coli strain resistant to all known antibiotics was detected in 49-year-old Pennsylvania woman. Dr. Christopher Davies, an expert on antibiotic resistance from the Medical University of South Carolina, notes that “the antibiotic cupboard is bare, and it will take years for new ones to reach the market. What the Agile Sciences technology offers is a way to fight antibiotic resistance today. Their compounds make current antibiotics work better, breathe new life into older antibiotics and eradicate pathogenic biofilms.”

Derived from a natural marine organism, Agile’s technology was initially developed by two Professors at North Carolina State University and has extensive funding from NIH, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, North Carolina Biotechnology Center and NIAID.

Agile Sciences was founded in 2007 by Dr. John Cavanagh, William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor in the Department of Molecular & Structural Biochemistry at North Carolina State University (NCSU), and Dr. Christian Melander, Howard J. Schaeffer Distinguished Professor and University Faculty Scholar in Department of Chemistry at NCSU. Drs. Cavanagh and Melander continue to serve as scientific advisors to Agile Sciences while retaining their respective academic appointments. Agile Sciences maintains laboratory and office space at NCSU’s Centennial Campus in Raleigh, NC.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160531006350/en/

Contact:

Agile Sciences
Malcolm Thomas, mthomas@agilesci.com
www.agilesci.com
or
MMC Productions
Peter Doyle, peter@mediamarketingconsultants.com